


suits and trench coats

by spirited_rant



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Justice League - All Media Types, Young Justice (Cartoon), Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: Batkids Age Reversal, Dark Dick Grayson, Implied/Referenced Brainwashing, Kidnapping, Not Canon Compliant, the batkids' biological parents are diana and bruce cuz y not
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-05
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-15 23:21:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,977
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28572198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spirited_rant/pseuds/spirited_rant
Summary: He was watching the youngest Wayne child for quite some time now, as the rest of the world had. He was also aware of the various people who wanted Robin to themselves. Deathstroke the Terminator and the Court of Owls, to name a few. Out of all the Wayne children, this one was special, this one had the potential he was looking for, he had known that through simple observation. But what the rest of the world didn’t seem to realize was that this boy was no different than any others, human or otherwise. The boy would be his all the same, he had waited long enough and now, now it was time.Richard John Wayne would be the perfect addition to his little family.
Relationships: Diana (Wonder Woman)/Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson & Damian Wayne, Dick Grayson & Jason Todd, Dick Grayson & Original Character(s), Dick Grayson & Terry McGinnis, Tim Drake & Dick Grayson, Tim Drake & Dick Grayson & Terry McGinnis & Jason Todd & Damian Wayne
Comments: 21
Kudos: 100





	1. chapter one

**Author's Note:**

> hey y'all, this plot bunny just hit my in my head while i was on netflix and i remember reading this story some years ago, it was a crossover between sherlock holmes and slenderman. this story was inspired by that, hehe. and idk, i've always liked the idea that dick's the youngest and the waynes are an actual biological fam so y'know, i thought why not push diana in there? anyways, here's the first chapter! :)

Dick was five when the stranger, affectionately nicknamed Mr. T, first visited him.

The child was in Jason’s room, looking for his Batman and Wonder Woman plushie. His older brother was messing with him again, and it wasn’t until Dick started the waterworks did Jason cave and told him to search his rooms, lest he get scolded by Alfred. It was too late, however, the butler had already known what happened and is currently scolding the pouting boy to not tease his little brother.

He needed the plushies, they always made him feel safe when his parents were off fighting the bad guys, especially when he needed to sleep.

That was when Dick heard a small cracking sound as he checked under the bed. The sound was very small, but Dick heard it coming from outside the room. He stood up from the place where he was crouching down and stared at the room. He didn’t know why he thought there was something about that sound; the Wayne mansion was quite old after all and has always made small sounds.

Dick thought that it was Jason coming back to his room after the lecture Alfred gave him, but that thought was quickly dismissed. It was different, this sound he heard. It was different in the sense of wrongness.

He wasn’t supposed to look at the door, because he knew it was wrong. He somehow knew he shouldn’t have noticed this ‘sound’ he heard.

Dick didn’t know what the feeling he was getting from the source of the sound; but it was far from the warm, safe and bright existence of his family and home. The door was not fully shut, there was a small space that had a dim light from the hallway.

There was only silence.

Nothing was moving and just then he noticed that there were no birds singing; they always sang beautifully when they stopped on the tree in the backyard.

It was at that moment when Dick saw the slender long fingers clad in black gloves slowly hold the side of the door. The hand slowly curled the fingers to hold the frame, it pushed the door open with a heavy motion. Dick knew that he should have bolted the moment he sensed something wrong, after all, his parents had many enemies and they weren’t expecting any guests at this hour; a gloved hand slowly pushing the door opened certainly counted as that ‘something wrong’. But he was more curious about what was behind the door. 

The door opened fully, making the creaking sound from the old wood that it was made out of.

It was a man who was standing there. A man dressed in an all black suit, covered by a brown trench coat. He was wearing a funny hat, and a black mask shielded his face from recognition.

He was taller than his mother, even his father; both of whom could reach the cookie jar. Dick should have felt fear; the boy knows that much. His parents always warned him and his brothers about strange people and staying far,  _ far  _ away from them. He and his brothers already met all the people that his parents deemed safe, but this stranger didn’t really trigger his ‘stranger danger’ senses.

So, he concludes, he was safe.

The man slowly cocked his head. It looked like he was studying Dick somehow, what with the man’s green eyes looking at him up and down. For some odd reason, Dick did the same and cocked his head, moving his head up and down. The man didn’t move for what it seemed to be a long while. He then slowly cocked his head to the other side, which Dick repeated the action.

There was silence in the room.

Dick forgot the fact that he didn’t hear anything at all; not even the sound of the wind hitting the window or the sound of his other brothers running around.

There was just silence.

But Dick was so fascinated by the man in front of him that he forgot the world. It was amazing to see something so ordinary in his home, something that seems out of place from his world filled with metahumans and supervillains. Dick smiled at the man who was still studying (or it seemed as if studying) him. The man, after a minute, slightly raised his long arms and ghosted his long fingers all around Dick’s face. The child didn’t move or flinch. Interestingly, the fingers were longer than it looked when it pushed open the door. The fingers then stopped on Dick’s little lips, slightly touching it with the man’s fingertip. Dick didn’t know what made him smile, but it was for sure not the fear he was supposed to feel. The man cocked his head slowly again, and this time Dick decided not to mirror him.

“Hi, I’m Richard. You can call me Dick though,” he said it in a whisper, like it was a dirty little secret, still feeling the slight touch of the man’s fingertips on his lips. The man didn’t reply but Dick didn’t expect anything; after all, he didn’t have a mouth. Dick just smiled more when the man removed his hand slowly.

“I was looking for my parents’ plushies. Have you seen them by any chance? Jason says I’m too old for those and calls me a baby, but they’re really important to me because I feel safer. I like them to be next to me when I sleep,” Dick whispered. The man stood there for a moment, and suddenly there was something dropping behind Dick.

A little startled, Dick turned around to see what was there, and it was his plushies. He quickly went to pick them up; it was a little strange since he had been searching the room for a while and it was definitely not there when he last checked. But for some reason, Dick knew that this tall man had managed to find it for him. Somehow. Dick turned around to the tall man who was still looking at Dick, he cocked his head to the other side again. Dick, feeling happy that he was able to find his plushies, smiled at the tall man.

“You found them! Thank you.”

The man gave a slight movement of his head, something that looked like a nod. Dick sat down on the bed, and looked at the man with excitement.

“So, are you here to see mom? Or are you here to see dad? You look like you could be a friend of dad’s,” he said, gesturing to the suit that the tall man was wearing.

The man didn’t react to the question Dick had asked, but instead moved slightly towards him and touched the Batman plushie with his long fingers. Happy that he finally got what he was looking for, Dick picked it up from his lap and showed it to the man.

“This is my dad, he’s the Batman.” he said proudly. Dick didn’t see anything wrong with telling the man about his parents’ alter ego, he didn’t know why, but he just trusts this man. And Alfred wouldn’t let the stranger in if he was a villain. Picking up the Wonder Woman plushie, he held it up to the man, “and this is my mom! She’s Wonder Woman and they’re both super cool heroes! They keep me safe from bad guys when I’m sleeping.”

With that, Dick stretched his arms to hand over both plushies, and the man held both in one hand. It seems that the man was examining the plushies with his dark eyes. Dick smiled at the man who was still staring at the plushies. He cocked his head and beamed.

“Would you like to be our friend?”

The man slowly looked down at the innocent child, who was excited with his own idea.

“I would call you Mr. T because you’re taller than my mommy and daddy! You can call me Dick but I don't know if you can speak,”

Dick looked at the man who had not given any reaction whatsoever. He opened his mouth to ask the man if he would like to stay for dinner, but it was cut off by the sudden movement of his hand that stopped Dick in saying anything. The tall man has brought his long fingers near the scratch on his arm that he’d gotten yesterday at the playground. It was still red and a bit itchy, but it was not bleeding. Dick looked at it and frowned.

He glanced up to aske Mr. T a question but he was gone. He blinked in surprise and looked around in bewilderment, slightly dizzy with all the external sounds suddenly coming back.

It wasn’t until the next week that Dick saw the man again.

Dick was playing outside with Terry; the water gun war was their favorite thing to do when it was sunny like that day. He just looked up to his room because he felt someone was there. And there was; the tall man was standing near the window, looking down at where Dick was.

It was creepy, knowing that somebody was in his room, but Dick just thought he came to visit someone again. He smiled at the man and waved at him.

“Who are you waving at?” Terry came to him, looking at the window.

“Mr. T! He came to visit again.”

Terry looked at Dick with a confused and worried gaze, and looked back to the window. He didn’t see anything.

“There isn’t anyone there, Dickie.”

It was Dick who got confused this time, what did he mean there was no one there? Dick looked back at the window, and Mr. T was still there.

“He’s there, right in front of my window. Can’t you see him?”

Terry looked back at the window again and, seeing no one, said, “You’re sure it’s not an imaginary friend?”

Dick crossed his arms, feeling a bit indignant, “He is not my imaginary friend! Look! He is right there, standing in front of my window!”

He pointed at the tall man who was still standing there, doing nothing. Terry frowned at his brother, his worry increasing tenfold. He knew better than to dismiss something like Dick seeing someone he doesn’t see as something trivial, unless his baby brother is lying to him. But Dick is a very bad liar.

“What does Mr. T look like?” Dick gave him a weird look, like he should know what the man’s appearance is.

“He’s really tall, and he wears a super cool outfit with a weird hat! Oh, and he has a black face mask,”

Terry progressively looked worried at the description, “When did he become your friend, Dickie?”

“I met him when Jason was being a meanie and hid my plushies in his room. He was the one who found them!”

  
He gripped Dick’s arm , _ ’But nobody visited the manor that day,’ _


	2. chapter two

_ RECAP: _

_ “What does Mr. T look like?” Dick gave him a weird look, like he should know what the man’s appearance is. _

__

_ “He’s really tall, and he wears a super cool outfit with a weird hat! Oh, and he has a black face mask,” _

__

_ Terry progressively looked worried at the description, “When did he become your friend, Dickie?” _

__

_ “I met him when Jason was being a meanie and hid my plushies in his room. He was the one who found them!” _

_  
He gripped Dick’s arm ,’But nobody visited the manor that day,’ _

_ \--- _

That night, he approached his concerns with his parents.

“Hey dad, is there any chance that an intruder broke into the house this morning?” Bruce, still dressed as Batman but with the cowl down, turned his head to look at his son.

“No, I would have been alerted immediately if there is one. Why?”

“Dick said that his friend, Mr. T, came to visit again, one that he met about last Thursday. He said he was standing by his bedroom window, but I didn’t see anyone or any _ thing _ ,” that statement implied a lot of things.

Diana and Bruce exchanged a look, knowing better than to dismiss it, “I’ll check the cameras.”

Bruce moved towards the computer, his wife and eldest son following him. He checked the camera outside Jason’s room (he respects his kids’ privacy, he would never install a camera in the room itself) and rewinded it to last Thursday.

“That’s strange,” Diana commented, staring at the static permeating the whole monitor. Bruce didn’t comment, switching to the camera outside Dick’s room from when Terry and Dick were playing outside, and the results were the same. Static was all there was, even from the audio receptors.

“Try the camera in the backyard from this morning, the one that has a view to his window,” Terry offered.

The view in the large monitor switched to one where the two boys were laughing and spraying each other with water. Bruce zoomed in to Dick’s window, where the area had the slightest distortion to it.

“Terry,” said boy snapped to attention, “tell your other brothers to not let Dick out of their sight no matter what, ok? We shouldn’t take this lightly, and inform me immediately if Dick saw this man again.”

The situation went from warranting worry to alarm due to an incident in the playground. Tim was pushing Dick on the swing with Alfred acting as their chaperone. The youngest was ecstatic as these days he wasn’t really left alone and was stuck at the manor for almost the entire vacation. Finally, his mom let him come to the playground on the condition that he wouldn’t leave Alfred and Tim’s sight, which he readily agreed to.

Then there was a group of three boys about Damian’s age who pushed Tim and Dick aside, claiming the playground to be their turf. Alfred quickly helped Tim up, but before he could help Dick, the boy had already rushed towards the older boys and tackled the biggest one. Needless to say, the butler was horrified and tried to split the boys up, but not before Tim joined in because ‘he had to protect his little brother’.

In the end, the two boys were heavily scolded by Diana by the time they went home, then quickly ushered to the infirmary in the Batcave. Dick ended up getting several stitches on his knee and several cuts on his face and other places in his body. Tim had also gotten himself some cuts around his body when he joined in the fight against the group. Bruce picked up the scolding once everything was patched up, giving the talk of fighting is not always the answer. Especially against boys who didn’t get the same training that they had.

After dinner, Dick was lying in his bed, holding his plushies tightly against his chest and fighting tears. He was still angry about the boys. How could anyone be such mean bullies? The boys had ran away when Terry, Damian and Jason arrived to help their brothers, realizing that they were outnumbered.

Dick was getting sleepy when he heard the door crack. He looked with his half lidded eyes to see who would check up on him; his parents were already out on their respective patrols, but there were the familiar fingers curling around the door. Dick didn’t notice that there was a silence on the air which somehow also became cold.

He blinked once, and the tall man was standing next to Dick.

“Hi, Mr. T.” he mumbled, trying to hide his startle, but looked up at the tall man. How can a person move so fast from one place to another? Is Mr. T a speedster like his Uncle Barry? But then again, he was sleepy so maybe he was dreaming.

The tall man cocked his head in the same manner as before. Dick wasn’t in the mood to talk to anyone, so he was silent. But for some reason, the man gave some sort of safeness and feeling that Dick didn’t have to worry about anything. Slowly, Dick started sobbing into his pillow. Embarassed about the tears, he hid his face from Mr. T. He was a big boy now, he wasn’t supposed to cry over some bullies. Big boys were supposed to be strong and protect their loved ones, like Terry and Damian as Nightwing and Blackbird. Dick wasn’t supposed to cry, but he couldn’t stop it.

Dick felt a touch on his head, it was cold despite the gloves covering them, unlike the warm soft fingers of his mother, or the comforting, calloused touch of his father, but it comforted him nonetheless. 

“They were so mean, Mr. T. And- and, I wasn’t able to protect Timmy like I had to,” he sobbed. The hiccups started to come out, and Dick hugged his plushies even tighter, “I-I needed to protect him and I c-couldn’t. It’s what you’re supposed to do, right? Protect your loved ones. A-and I couldn’t even do it. What kind of future hero am I?”

At the end of his sentence, all his feelings started to pour out, and Dick couldn’t resist the sad cry.

The tall man still had his hand on Dick. It wasn’t moving, but Dick couldn’t ask for more nor did he say anything about it. The man, however, soon took his hands off Dick’a head, and slightly ghosted over the cut on his cheeks that were now covered in tears. Dick was going to look at the man but there was a loud crack. Startled, Dick looked up, but there was no one there. Confused, he looked around again, but instead of the tall man Dick found the window with a crack coming from the top of the window down to the end. Dick wondered what caused the crack, he didn’t know what but he knew that Alfie would be furious.

Suddenly, the door was slammed open making Dick jump. He stared with wide eyes as his father, dressed as Batman - _ ‘I thought he already went to patrol?’  _ he wondered- rushed forward to him and gathered him up in his arms.

“Daddy?” he asked, confused and more than a little scared. He could feel his father shaking slightly.

Batman was indeed already out for the night, doing his patrol when he received a panicked call from Damian who was on monitor duty. The cameras on the boys’ wing of the mansion were all static, and the cameras nearest to Dick’s room went black. He already sent his other brothers to his room and according to them, the door knob itself was unlocked, but the door itself wouldn’t budge.

He rushed home after that, Gotham be  _ damned. _ His family came first.

When he came to the scene, it was to his sons shouting and banging the door of his youngest’s room. 

“Dick! Open up, this isn’t funny!” Jason was shouting. There was no reply.

“Stand aside,” Batman ordered. The boys startled but quickly followed the order, Bruce slamming his whole body against the door in an effort to bust it open. But still the door didn’t budge.

“Boys!” Someone shouted in the hallway, and they all turned to see Diana running towards them. In an unspoken agreement, Bruce stepped aside. Diana punched the door, but to no avail, it didn’t even leave a dent. There was something seriously wrong now, as no door will be able to withstand the Amazon if she was angry or panicking, in this case, both. Diana was about to try again but the door suddenly slammed open. Bruce pushed the questions to the back of his mind for now and rushed towards his son, who was staring at him with wide eyes, and quickly gathered him in a quick embrace.

Diana followed, as did the other boys. However, Damian slowly approached the window, carefully tracing the cracked glass with his fingers.

The family decided unanimously that Dick would be sleeping in the master bedroom until they figured out  _ what  _ exactly is targeting the youngest, they had enough of a scare. Once Damian informed them of the cracked bedroom window, it just increased their worry. The Wayne mansion’s windows are bulletproof to avoid assassination attempts in their own home, and so nothing should be able to crack it that much.

Both Diana and Bruce decided to cut their patrols short in order to guard the sleeping boy.

Dick woke up the next day with a tiny shiver through his left chest. He felt a little dizzy but he thought it was because he suddenly woke up. He looked around blearily and noticed his mother sitting on an armchair, reading a book.

“Good morning, mommy.” Dick smiled at her, rubbing his eyes to get the sleep out of his eyes.

Diana smiled back at his son, walking up to him and ruffling his hair, “Morning, sweetie. Let’s go down for breakfast, alright? Your father’s already down.”

Dick just nodded in reply and sleepily raised his arms. Diana just chuckled in reply and picked her baby bird up, beyond glad that nothing happened to him last night. She had wanted to bring in J’onn for help in finding out the identity of the assailant through the use of Dick’s memories, but Bruce refused, stating that this was a private family matter, and they were plenty capable of figuring this mess out on their own.

The two of them went down, passing through the living room where the television was on. It was on the news channel, and Dick’s gasp made Diana stop in her tracks.

“What is it?”

“It’s them, mommy! They’re the boys who Tim and I fought yesterday!” Dick’s eyes were wide, pointing at the television where the pictures of three boys were shown.

_ Bodies of three young boys were found this morning, brutally murdered, as can be compared to the Joker’s worst.  _

Dick wiggled out of her grasp and ran to the dining room as fast as his little legs could carry him, shrieking, “Timmy!” 

Dick came back, dragging a disheveled Tim with him and rambling a mile per minute, “See, see? They were the boys from yesterday!” he exclaimed, pointing at the television.

“Dick, what…?” he paused, gaping at the screen where the news anchor was interviewing the victims’ parents.

The woman on the television said that they were attacked yesterday when they were coming home from a friend’s house. Apparently, they were slaughtered by someone when they were each trying to get home with their mothers. From what they had gathered, the mothers were either opening the door or getting some things off the car and when they turned around, they saw their sons already dead. The stories between the three grieving parents were the same; they looked at something else for a second and when they turned back to the boys they were already dead. They didn’t hear anything, no scream, no cry for help, no nothing.

Bruce walked up behind Diana and put his hand on her shoulder, exchanging a worried glance, “I don’t want you boys going out after 5pm, alright? And even if you go out during the day you have to have an adult with you,” he directed this to all of his sons, including the ones who were peeking from the doorway.

Dick looked at his parents’ serious faces and nodded. He was a little scared to know that this had happened, even if murder was the norm in Gotham, but because it was horrifying that it could have happened to him and Tim. They were fighting with the boys yesterday and now they are all gone. His father switched the channel to another program, and they all went back to the dining room.

_ “Dickie,” Bruce started one night, kneeling so he could be eye level with his youngest. They were in the master bedroom, about to turn in for the night, “Can you describe Mr. T for me?” _

_ Dick turned sleepy blue eyes towards him, “I thought Mr. T was you guys’ friend?” _

_ Diana pursed her lips, worry practically radiating off her in waves. Whoever this ‘Mr. T’ is, it looks like he’s hoping to get close to the two of them by using a gullible six year old.  _

_ “I forgot what he looked like.” Bruce smiled sheepishly. _

_ Dick giggled, “Silly daddy. Mr. T is really really tall, taller than mommy and daddy!” he exclaimed, extending his arm upward to prove his point, “and he always wears the stuffy suits that you wear, daddy. And he wears a coat and mask, and he has a really weird hat. Like what the mafia guys were wearing in the movie Jay made me watch.” _

_ “Okay then, Dickie bird. Thanks for describing Mr. T to your daddy and I, we are really forgetful sometimes,” she smiled, kneeling down to Dick’s height and lightly tickled the boy’s sides, making her son giggle. She decided to ignore that Jason made the six year old watch inappropriate movies for now, because this takes precedence.  _

_ Mr. T didn’t sound like any villain that she, Batman or the Justice League had ever fought. _

_ After Dick had fallen asleep, Bruce left Diana to guard their little one and went down the Batcave to search for any possible match to Dick’s description of the mysterious intruder. It was about 4am before he stopped, rubbing his eyes tiredly. He scoured all of his sources but no positive match was confirmed, especially since this ‘Mr. T’ didn’t exactly leave any DNA behind for him to track. _

After the news of the three boys everybody was cautious in the neighborhood. It was not often that people would target children. Bruce and Diana even forbade Terry, Damian and Tim to go with Bruce for patrol as the murders keep piling up, much to the boys’ chagrin. Parents would not allow their children to be outside after dark and everybody has started to put extra locks on their doors and windows. Dick wasn’t even complaining about the lack of outdoors now because the last thing he wanted was for his brothers to be hurt. He stayed home after four playing in his room or reading books by himself, sometimes his brothers would indulge him and play with him. 

He didn’t see the tall man for two weeks, much to the Wayne family’s relief. The boys have already been warned about the appearance of the assailant just in case.

But after the two weeks were up, that peace was suddenly gone.

It happened when he was in the backyard at around noon. He was going to go back to school again in a few days and wanted to have fun as much as possible, so he was outside. Damian was there as well but he was preoccupied with his friend Colin, who was visiting with his family. Terry, Tim and Jason were grounded after the impromptu food fight they had in last night’s dinner. Their parents allowed the two of them to stay outside until four and Colin’s grandma was with them so the kids were not alone, but Dick didn’t complain. Sadly, his mom was called away on an off-world mission, so she wasn’t here with them today.

Dick was playing in the slide when he suddenly felt a shiver. 

He stopped in his tracks, and looked around. For some reason he felt there was someone looking at him and that got him a little scared? What if it was the child murderer that has been going around? But then he looked up to his window when he saw something in the corner of his eyes. It was the tall man again, standing in the same place where he had before. The window had long since been repaired. 

Dick smiled at the man and waved; Mr. T must have come to visit them again. It was a little weird that neither his mommy or daddy informed them that another one of their friends was coming, but it was Mr. T and Dick really liked him. He saw Damian look at him weirdly, then followed his gaze to his bedroom window. The boy’s eyes narrowed when he saw nothing was there, but then widened in understanding when he spotted that the area was slightly distorted. Damian immediately dashed inside the mansion, shouting for Bruce, a confused and startled Colin following him.

It was then when someone grabbed his waving hand. Startled, Dick looked back and Colin’s grandma was standing behind him. Dick wasn’t sure what to do now, slightly weirded out. She was very old after all, way older than Alfred, with her white hair, a gray blanket around her shoulders and a black dress underneath it. Her eyes, however, were the brightest green he had ever seen.

“Child, are you waving at the man in the window?” it sounded like a question, but it also sounded like she was just saying what she saw. Confused, Dick nodded.

“That’s Mr. T. He comes around sometimes. He’s my friend.” To be honest, Dick and Jason had always been creeped out with this old lady. There was just something about her that screams she knows somethings that you didn’t, and they always caught her looking at something from afar. Not to mention she just really gives off creepy vibes. Colin always claims that she was going senile in her old age, but they digress. 

“That thing is not your friend, little one. Has anything awful happened after you saw that creature?” The woman never looked up at the tall man, but Dick knew that she saw him even though her eyes never left Dick’s, “Anything at all? Animals dying? People getting hurt?”

Dick was not sure what she was trying to say, but for some reason he told her about the boys that Tim and him fought in the playground. She stared at Dick for a moment, before digging something out of her bag, and gave it to him. It was a pendant; with a blue crystal rock. 

“This must be always with you. It will protect you when you need it the most. Do you understand me? Do not leave it, understood?” Dick was baffled, and he could only nod. Her grip on his arm was really starting to hurt, though. She tightened it before letting go, as rushing footsteps came towards them.

“Dick!” Bruce shouted, relief evident in his voice when he found his son unharmed. He rushed to pick his son up, glancing at the window where it was still slightly distorted. Whatever Mr. T was, it was clear that Dick was the only one who could see him, and that worsened his fears. He vaguely noticed that Colin’s parents, Christopher and Jessica, followed him with Damian and Colin not far behind.

“Listen carefully, child.” all their heads snapped to the old woman who was staring at the window, Bruce’s grip tightened around his child, “The thing that you think is your friend is not what you think it is. He is a creature that will harm you and the ones that you love the most. I don’t know why he hasn’t taken you away after marking you as his prey, but that does not mean that he won’t do it.”

The Waynes were horrified, to say the least. It just ultimately confirmed their fear, Bruce’s grip growing impossibly tight as if once the father lets go Dick would disappear without a trace. He wouldn’t let anything take his son away from his family, his second chance at happiness and salvation. It seems that this old woman can clearly see the invisible man if her stare had anything to say about it, and it’s clear that she knows what she’s talking about. Colin’s parents were horrified for another reason.

“Mother! That’s quite enough of your silly ramblings!” Christopher exclaimed in horror.

“No, let her continue,” Bruce said, doing his best to keep the fear out of his voice, “What can we do to prevent that from ever happening?”

“Unfortunately, the creature is too powerful, and I cannot banish him as of right now, but I have left your son protection, do not worry,” Dick flinched, flicking his eyes to the window where the tall man was still staring at them. Mr. T suddenly became terrifying to him at this moment, and he could vaguely make out black flames from behind the man’s back.

But that’s impossible, right? There’s no such thing as black flames, and their house itself isn’t burning to the ground so maybe it’s just his imagination playing tricks on him again. He could practically feel Mr. T’s glare, though, even though he could barely make out his eyes, and it made all the hairs at the back of his neck stand up.

“He’s angry,” he whispered, hiding his face on his father’s chest. Damian and Bruce shifted uneasily, instincts telling them to catch the one doing this. The woman’s gaze softened, while her family exchanged glances, not sure on what to do.

“Mr. Wayne,” Bruce glanced back up, “your son caught the attention of a very powerful creature, so you must always keep him close from now on. And Richard? Never ever let him take you away, no matter what he does, no matter what he says. Understood?”

Dick nodded, lifting his face to take a peek at the window.

There was no one there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope u guys enjoyed this chapter, see u in the next update!


	3. chapter three

_RECAP:_

_“He’s angry,” he whispered, hiding his face on his father’s chest. Damian and Bruce shifted uneasily, instincts telling them to catch the one doing this. The woman’s gaze softened, while her family exchanged glances, not sure on what to do._

_“Mr. Wayne,” Bruce glanced back up, “your son caught the attention of a very powerful creature, so you must always keep him close from now on. And Richard? Never ever let him take you away, no matter what he does, no matter what he says. Understood?”_

_Dick nodded, lifting his face to take a peek at the window._

_There was no one there._

—-

School had started a few days after that, with no appearance of the tall man, much to the family’s relief. Dick was never alone, though, not even for a second. After the old woman’s ominous warnings, they were scared that the creature would just snatch the child up the moment they turned their backs.

School was a relief because it was a taste of normalcy, but it was so boring. It was nice seeing his friends and all, but it was still school and even though math was awesome, Dick was ready for another holiday. See, what Dick didn’t tell his family, (because he didn’t want them to worry and still believed that Mr. T is his friend, he was just angry the other day and that’s why he seemed so scary. Even his daddy and mommy became terrifying when they got angry) is that Dick was seeing the tall man more frequently than before.

He wasn’t sure when he was coming in or leaving, but when Dick returned from school he would always pass by his open bedroom door, and Mr. T was always standing there. He wouldn’t wave, though, lest he alert his bodyguard for the day that the tall man was there, but he had the feeling that Mr. T knew that he knew he was there. The man was sometimes in the corner of the master bedroom, his parents never really noticing that something was amiss, and everytime when Dick was not looking he was always in the spot that Dick knew the man wasn’t a moment ago.

But it was funny that every time somebody was being mean to him, they were always hurt the next day. They were either in an accident the previous day or had an accident in the classroom, like David cutting his finger off with his scissors, which was morbid. Dick thought it was probably why you shouldn’t do bad things; bad things happen to you when you do something bad.

He would sometimes see the tall man in school as well, but always in the corner of his eyes. Dick thought that he was imagining things now; why would Mr. T be at his school anyways? Dick decided that he was just mistaking the tall man with something else because every time he turned around to see, there was no one standing there.

It was during break when Abigail Barker came to talk to him. Dick hadn’t talked to her since before the holiday and she came back late from a family trip. She was very pretty, with red hair, freckles, and green eyes.

“Hi Dick! How was your holiday?”

“It was great! I played with my brothers most of the time, though.”

“Yeah, I was with my brother and sister as well. But it’s sad that we couldn’t hang out together,” she sat down next to Dick and started talking about how her brother got a new car and it looked cool. They were giggling together, sharing stories when a group of girls rounded the corner.

“Look at Abigail, buttering it up with Richard!”

“Probably hoping to be a Mrs. Wayne, as if she would ever have a chance,” one particular mean girl, Rebecca Johnson, sniped. Her older sister was a classmate of Terry’s, and like the little helion, was told to get close to the Wayne boys in hopes of catching one. The Johnsons, while a fairly well-off family, isn’t above in using underhanded tactics in getting what they want.

“Please stop it, Rebecca,” Dick interrupted their bullying, annoyed. He looked at his friend to see her close to tears.

“Why would you want her anyway? She’s ugly with her ginger hair and all those freckles,” the girls laughed. Dick was about to shout at them to leave them alone, but before he could do that Abigail already ran away with tears in her eyes. Without a moment’s hesitation, he followed her. The girls were still laughing as he left them, whispering scathing comments to each other. Walking down the corridor, Dick was wondering if Abigail was okay. He, however, found something else.

He was looking out the window, wondering if she went out to the playground where there was a big tree they both liked to climb. She was indeed there but she was not alone; the tall man was standing in front of little Abigail who was curled into a ball and sobbing her eyes out.

Dick was confused as to why Mr. T was in his school, but he soon realized that the temperature had dropped dramatically to the point that Dick was shivering. It was perfectly fine a moment ago, and Dick couldn’t help but wonder if a storm was coming. He was going to come closer to the both of them, but soon stopped to the sight he saw. The leaves on the tree and the grass around it were dying; they were turning brown and dry. The squirrel on the tree dropped dead, becoming decomposed in an instant when it hit the ground. The wind was blowing everything away, and in an instant the playground looked like a graveyard. Dick suddenly felt fear building up in his body and started to shiver even harder; the cold air did not help.

The children that were playing around didn’t seem to notice, which made the whole thing even more wrong. Dick wanted to cry out to Abigail, but he felt his throat tightening every time he wanted to speak. It didn’t help when he saw the black flames come out of Mr. T, much like what he saw when Colin and his family visited. The flames creeped closer to the sobbing girl until they were cocooning Abigail like a spider trying to get its prey. Dick’s legs were shaking, and he couldn’t move from his place, but the tall man didn’t wait. It was surrounding Abigail and to his confusion his friend wasn’t burning, nor was she screaming from pain, but it does appear to be draining her of something, and Dick didn’t know what.

The only thing he knew was that it was killing her; he could see from his place that her skin was becoming pale and shrivelled, at the same time the tree behind her was becoming drier and drier. Dick gasped and shouted her name with all his strength that remained.

“Abby!” 

The flames suddenly receded, and the tall man slowly turned its head towards Dick. it was so slow that Dick was somehow sure he heard the screeching sound similar to a rusty metal. For the first time Dick felt unbridled fear towards his tall friend. It was something that he knew he should have felt long ago but never quite understood. He blinked when a strong cold wind hit him and when he opened his eyes, the tall man was gone.

Abigail was sitting in the same position, looking at Dick with a confused gaze. He quickly scanned the place, but there were only the small children playing around. Dick looked at Abigail to see if she was alright but soon his eyes caught somebody standing in the opposite pavement. It was Colin’s grandmother, looking at Dick and Abby, and she was the same as the last time he saw her. Dick was uncertain of what to do, but then, he heard a loud pitch scream from the corner of the school building. Everybody froze in their places and looked towards that direction. Mrs. Green has come running towards the playground telling the children to get inside. 

They were sent home early that day not knowing what exactly happened. One of the girls in his class was crying that Rebecca was nowhere to be found. It wasn’t until the next day that the news covered the death of Rebecca Johnson; Jason had told him that they found her dead in the corner of the building and when they examined her, all of the organs were taken out and put in a plastic bag beside her body, and what remained on the hollow cavity was a bloody doll of a red-headed girl. 

His parents were grim when they found out. It was different when the killer was targeting children out and about the streets of Gotham, as that in itself is very dangerous considering the nature of the city. Now, a murder happened right in Dick’s school, where he was supposed to be safe with all the guards stationed around the school. It was decided that the boys would stay home for the time being, until the killer was found and brought to justice.

Dick shivered at the image of Rebecca’s dead body, and he couldn’t sleep well that night by having nightmares of what he had seen at the playground. Did Mr. T have something to do with Rebecca’s death? Was the old woman right when she said that Mr. T was not his friend and Dick had to worry about him hurting everybody? What could he do? Should he tell his parents about the incident in the playground?

Sitting up from the bed, he was about to shake his mother awake before he thought better of it. Siana had just come back from a League mission and she was beyond exhausted. Carefully removing the arm wrapped around him, he was about to leap down from the bed to go to the Batcave when the air went cold. He was scared because this only meant one thing. He quickly hid himself under the covers and attempted to wake his mother with frantic shaking. She didn’t wake up though, making him panic even more. He thought that she was dead like Rebecca before he saw the steady rise and fall of her chest. 

The relief was short lived when there was suddenly a creaking sound of the door opening. His heart was pounding loud and fast. He wanted it to stop so he would not make a single noise or movement. There was a cracking sound of the wood around the room and Dick shut his eyes tighter and wished everything went away. He felt the end of the bed sink; somebody was sitting at the end and yet his mother still hasn’t woken up. Minutes felt like hours and it felt like the oxygen was taken away from him.

“Little bird?” his father’s voice whispered, and Dick opened his eyes. It was only his father coming in, going to turn in for the night. He probably wanted to talk to him about the incident at school. He relaxed and took off the cover off his head.

“Daddy…” he halts his words.

It wasn’t his father sitting at the end of the bed; it was Mr. T.

Dick’s heart stopped and then made a loud skip; he felt the cold breeze surrounding him. He couldn’t look away nor couldn’t he move. He felt the blood running faster than ever through his veins and he couldn’t breathe properly. The tall man’s head was hunched down and the expressionless face was examining Dick. He gripped his mother’s unresponsive hand tightly.

The only thing he could do was to breathe but even the simplest thing was painful. The room seemed to be eaten up by the darkness that the creature was carrying. Dick tried to stop his mouth from quivering, but he couldn’t stop his curiosity.

“W-was it you who hurt Rebecca?”

The whisper echoed through the darkness, and Dick flinched by his own voice. The man cocked his head slowly to the side, but Dick knew this gesture was not to answer his question nor it was a denial. It was simply reading Dick and that was the most frightening thing he had ever faced. Dick trembled from fear.

The tall man slowly brought up its own hand and reached the little boy with its long arm. Dick saw the man’s face mask dissolve into nothing, lips separating into an unnerving smile that was showcasing sharp teeth; green eyes seemingly glowing and piercing through him. The hand covered his sight and Dick heard a whisper that seemed to echo from all around him.

“Richard.”

Everything went black.

The next time Dick opened his eyes, he was in the middle of a playground. It was dark and cold; he didn’t know where he was and it was terrifying. He looked around to see if anybody was there; nothing. The small child trembled in fear, he just wanted his mommy and daddy and big brothers and Alfie. He ran as fast as he could to the nearest exit he saw, hoping that he could get help and go home.

When he reached the exit, however, Dick bumped into another person. Startled fearing that it was the tall man, he screamed and tried to run away from the hands that were holding him.

“Shh, child! It’s alright. It’s me, you’re safe.”

Dick couldn’t stop the tears running down his cheeks but when he looked up, he stopped fighting. It was the old woman standing there with a worried look, and Dick’s legs gave out. He couldn’t move, but the old woman had crouched down and held him.

“Shh, shh. You’re alright. The creature is gone now. You are safe.”

“W-where did h-he g-g-go? W-was he g-going to k-kill me?”

The woman tried to soothe Dick by rubbing his back, but the tears wouldn’t stop falling.

“He will not be able to touch you, I assure you,” she looked at Dick to check his expression, but resumed rubbing his back, “I don’t know what he wanted from you, but I am sure that he wanted to take you away.”

“...w-who was he?”

“...the creature calls himself Yami, little one.”

Dick tried to hold in his sobs but failed and tugged himself to the woman, “I want to go home,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the foundation for this story has been set, and the next chapter should start with Dick in YJ. 
> 
> hope u enjoyed this chapter, see u in the next update!

**Author's Note:**

> hope you enjoyed! see you at the next chapter :)


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